With the start of the school year, the lack of a crosswalk across South Downs Street, at Ridgecrest Charter School, has raised parental concerns about safety.

According to Tina Ellingsworth, principal at RCS, Downs Street ranks as the third busiest street in the city. As one of the main arteries of north to south travel around Ridgecrest, people use the street throughout the day, especially during peak commute times – which coincide with the times school starts and ends. With school in session, commuters need to be extra aware to share the road with kids traveling on foot and by bicycle.

Brian Saxton, a parent whose daughter goes to RCS, felt it is uncomfortably dangerous for kids to cross Downs Street right now. He felt there was definitely a safety problem in the area as drivers are not always looking out for people getting ready to cross the street.

“There's an issue there, big time,” Saxton said. “Crosswalks are there for a reason.”

Students are not the only group at risk from dangerous traffic conditions. Saxton said the seniors living in the senior apartments nearby could also be at risk. He recalled hearing about seniors attempting to cross Downs, but having difficulty navigating the traffic pattern.

Ellingsworth noted traffic concerns were an issue at all schools, though RCS had a slightly larger one than the other local campuses. While RCS has one of the largest parking lots, it has no street parking, a unique quality compared to other schools. She said most of the others had “hundreds of cars lining the streets daily for dropoff and pickup.”

The area around the charter school used to have a crosswalk to regulate traffic. According to Saxton, it was removed due to regulations requiring sidewalks and gutter systems for a crosswalk to be used. He felt the issue could be solved and a crosswalk put back in, but the process was tied up in bureaucracy. At present, signs warning pedestrians not to cross have been put in place to discourage people from entering the street.

The school has begun working with the city to increase safety in the area. According to Ellingsworth, the city plans to widen the road with the goal of addressing the issue. The project will not be an immediate fix and is expected to take approximately two years for the changes to be made. In the meantime, RCS has some ideas for how to make things a little safer.

Ellingsworth encourages the parents of older students to park at the nearby baseball fields and have the students walk to meet them, rather than add to congestion around the school's parking lot access. The charter school also has a drive-through lane designed to speed up the pickup and dropoff process. It was estimated the whole process could take less than 15 minutes for the school's full 440-student population.

Page 2 of 2 - “The school is sympathetic to the concerns [of parents] and has made efforts to increase student safety while expediting the pickup/dropoff process,” Ellingsworth said.

Talks have also been opened with the city staff and traffic officer to provide alternative routes for kids to walk to school. This, and other possible changes, are still being worked out with no definitive plans at this time. The school administrators have also talked to the traffic safety officer about using a crossing guard. Ellingsworth said the hope has been to find a solution fitting the needs of both the school and the city.

Saxton felt even a simple solution would go a long way toward helping. Just putting in a new crosswalk could have a huge impact on the traffic conditions in the area.

“At least it's there and will get people's attention more than what's already there,” Saxton said.